Perfection
by BraveTheElements
Summary: Sometimes the truth is truly stranger than fiction. A story I haven't touched in a while from Theo's PoV. T&E, T for situations, violence, mild language, and some other things that I forgot
1. Part 1

**A/N: Yeah, so I decided to do something that has nothing to do with my series. This isn't a part of Frozen in Time, Awareness is the Option, or Slanted and Enchanted. This universe is different and the differences are explained throughout the story. It's a bit different than I've done before so hopefully you, the reader, enjoys it. Perfection is all just one huge story with no chapters, but i'm uploading it in different sections in ways that it make sense to me to upload it. The reason that there are no chapters doesn't really make sense, but ti works better for me. It's not complete, and It will be kinda long.

* * *

**

Perfection

I woke up out in the rain again. I checked my phone; it's 5 am Monday Morning. I can't believe I have to go to school today. It's so cold. I'm not really wearing anything, just pajama pants. The water starts to mat my fur. I felt my chest. I'm soaking wet. The sun is starting to rise over the housetops. It was May, but the mornings were still bitter cold. It had been raining all week. Relentless, mother nature. She's dealing a cold hand. Why is it so cold? I got up and checked around myself. I was in the backyard. It's better than the front I guess. Getting to my feet I look inside the house. Simon was in the kitchen. He was looking for something, perhaps something to eat. If that's so, he's really looking for me.

The water dripped from my hair. I'm still groggy; my vision still wasn't perfect. Stumbling, I found my way to the back door. It was locked. It would be best not to knock. Alvin was going to still be asleep. I looked around the house again. The day was already starting to lighten up. It was a greenish shade of grey. I've never seen the sky look green before. I started to walk around to the front of the house. I got outside somehow. It might have been through the front door. My sight returned to me completely. The house was light by individual lights; the gradient of light and dark played with my eyes. Dancing shadows moved through the front and faded into the black. I got into the kitchen. I puddle of water started to form underneath me. Simon didn't notice me enter. He was facing away from me. I took another step and he turned around, startled.

"Theodore?" he said as he walked towards me, "Were you just outside?"

"Yeah," I didn't know what I should say. I hesitated and he looked inquisitively at me, "I just stepped out to get the paper."

He paused and looked at me carefully, "Where is it?"

"Where is what?"

He looked sternly, "The paper? You know, the thing you just went to get."

"Oh," I paused, "It's in the sink in the bathroom. It was too wet for me to bring in here."

"And yet your dripping wet self is fine. I wasn't aware that it was raining so hardly outside."

I started to walk away," Yeah it was weird. It picked up and then dropped again. I'm going to dry myself off," I left the kitchen and started to go upstairs. It was dark; none of the lights were on. I got to the top and Alvin was steeping out of the bathroom.

"Oh Theo, I didn't know that you had already taken a shower. I didn't hear you in there."

"Yeah, I took one a while back when you were sleeping," I said, trying to get behind him.

"Cool, yeah. I'll see you downstairs. Do you want to drive today?"

"I'm not feeling it." I walked past him.

"Alright," he paused and walked to the stairs, "I'll ask Simon."

I started to dry off and change. I didn't have time to take a legitimate shower. Alvin already thinks that I took a shower today anyway. It would be weird to take one again. I can't find anything to wear.

* * *

"Simon, did you hear Theo take a shower today?" Alvin and Simon had made themselves breakfast in the absence of Theodore. I usually make breakfast. They must have been a bit lost, but breakfast isn't that complicated to make so hopefully they figured it out.

"I didn't, why?"

Alvin spooned another bit of cereal into his mouth, "Oh, well, he was all wet and he told me that he had already taken a shower. I was just weird. I usually hear the two of you take showers, even when I sleep. It's what wakes me up in the morning," Simon laughed at this, "I only heard one shower today, which I assumed was yours because you're usually up first, or still awake from the night before. I just didn't hear him take one. I may have just not heard him take a shower this morning. I'm not sure. Was the shower already wet when you got in?"

"No," Simon said as he got up and put his dishes away, "It was bone dry. You see, Theodore told me the reason he was wet was because he went out to get the paper this morning. It was odd, he was much more wet than he should have been," I started to walk downstairs and they stopped talking. I paused on the stairs and listened. They had completely stopped so I continued down to meet them.

Alvin put up his dishes, "Oh hey Theo."

"Hey guys," I grabbed an apple and some tea I had made last night.

"Theo, I thought you told me you got wet from going outside."

I looked up at him as I was sitting down, "yeah, I did."

"Well, you told Alvin that you got wet from taking a shower."

"I never said that," what were they trying to pull here?

"You told him you had taken a shower when I didn't hear you or anything. The tub was bone dry when I got in there as well."

"Alvin had just asked me if I had taken a shower, which I did take one, at like 3 in the morning. I didn't go to sleep last night. I had a paper due, so I took my laptop downstairs, as to not disturb the two of you." This lie is starting to get far too intricate.

"You told me that you were wet because of a shower," Alvin said as he stared at me.

"No I didn't, you asked me if I took a shower, not why I was wet," I wish they would just stop wondering.

"Oh,"

"Where's your laptop now?" Simon asked. They couldn't have known. There's no way.

"My bag," I put my bag onto the kitchen table and threw the apple core into the trashcan.

"Can I see it?" he was starting to get irritated.

"I simply don't understand what your deal is today."

He stepped towards me, "I just want to see it."

"Why?"

"What are you covering up?"

I paused. He looked worried and Alvin just looked away, "nothing," I opened up my bad and took out my laptop, "look, here's the paper I was working on last night. Please you two, I'm tired and I'm ready to get the day over with now that it's just started. Can we just get to school?" The headache started again. It was dull, but persistent.

Alvin started to walk out of the kitchen. He grabbed the keys off of the ring as he walked out, "come on, let's just go," the rain hadn't stopped yet and he ran to the car. I put my laptop back in my bag and stood up, Simon stayed back with me. His eyes were worried.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I was just concerned."

My face was a blank slate, "Worried about what? I'm fine."

"Yeah, yeah. I know that now."

* * *

The rain had let up by the time we got to school. I put in my iPod. Tokyo Police Club. It would be the best thing right now. The myriad of faces flashed past me as I walked up to the school doors. Simon and Alvin talked to each other as we walked in. They were laughing. I wonder what it was about. It was still overcast as we got in. It would be for the remainder of the day.

When we got to our lockers, which were situated next to each other for obvious reasons, the two left for their first period classes. 20th century American History for Alvin, and AP Physics for Simon. I would be heading out to AP Literature and Composition for the first part of the day. I sat down and rubbed my temples. The headache would not leave me. I opened my locker again and grabbed a bottle. Aspirin, it would be my only saving grace in the really bad days. I sat down again and took out my phone. It was 10 minutes until class started. The sound of the halls was crashing in my head. The pain started to worsen. I took the pills and sunk my head into my knees. I felt someone sit next to me. I looked up.

"Are you alright?" It was Eleanor. She always seemed to be there when I needed her to be.

"Yeah," I said, exhaling a huge breath.

"You don't seem okay."

"Looks can be deceiving."

She laughed, "Seriously, what's wrong."

"I have a headache. That's all, nothing to be worried about."

"You should really let me worry about you sometimes," she got up and held out her hand, "Are you ready?"

Her hand, a simple gesture of kindness that exemplified her beauty. She was never down, and, no matter how sad I could get, she was always there with a hand and a smile. I grabbed her hand and she helped me up. Our hands lingered. She looked at me, deeply. I couldn't look away, and I smiled. She was the picture of perfection to me. I couldn't understand why, "Thanks," she laughed and put her hand down at her side hastily. When it was at her side, it seemed like she didn't know what she wanted to do with it. I put in my iPod again, only one ear this time.

"We should go," we had first period together. I grabbed the pill bottle from the floor where I had left it and put it in my backpack.

"Let's go," we started to walk in silence. She looked anxious. Her eyes would flit to me and quickly go back to the hallway. There were too many people in the hallway for her to keep her eyes on me all the time I guess.

"So, um, what are you listening to?" It was odd. She would seem nervous around me at times. We were usually so comfortable around each other, and she exuded confidence when around others, but with me she was reserved. I had always wondered what she felt around me. I think it is obvious. I didn't want to be made the fool.

"Grizzly Bear, Two Weeks," I looked down at her again. I always got drawn in by her eyes. There was something about her eyes. The Hazel color was always changing. The change maybe?

"I think you showed them to me, right?"

"Yeah, I did," I wish I knew what she was thinking about. She was searching for something to say. I killed to conversation on accident. Silences are so awkward. My headache started to go away. We got into the room and sat down next to each other.

"How do you think the paper went for you?"

"It should have been fine. I had Mrs. King for English freshman year. It's been a while, but she grades papers the same way."

"Even after three years, she grades the same?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, okay." The silence came back. I hate it when the headaches come. I can't seem to hold conversation with anyone. The silence held for the rest of the period.

* * *

"Fuck," It was third period and I was rubbing my temple again. The pain had set in. I looked at my phone. It was half past noon. I could take some pills again. I said it softly enough that nobody heard it. I was in Calculus with Jeanette at the time. She was sitting next to me, and she didn't even so much as look over.

"Theo?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you gotten anywhere on problem seventeen?"

"I haven't," she looked over to me, and I was still rubbing my temples.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"It's just a headache,"

"You look like you're in a lot of pain," I was. And she could tell.

"I'm fine,"

"But,"

"I'm fine, please just drop it." I snapped at her. Jeanette withdrew. She was hurt, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"You should go take something for it," she looked worried.

"Yeah," I raised my hand. The teacher, Mr. Williams, called on me.

"Yes Mr. Seville?" he was always so unpleasant to deal with.

"Can I use the restroom really quickly?"

"Yes you may," he was surprisingly easy to deal with today. I got up and Jeanette watched me was I walked out of the room. Her eyes were burning my back.

I got to the restroom and pulled out the pill bottle I had on my person. It was empty, "Oh goddammit, really?" I walked and put my back against the wall. I looked at the bottle again and threw it against the wall. I slid down the wall and put my head in between my knees. What was I trying to accomplish my sitting here? Maybe it would help my pain. The spikes in pain were killing me. I heard the door open.

"Theo, what are you doing?" It was one of my classmates, Jackson.

"Jackson, are you selling right now?"

"Me? No, not right now?"

"Who is?"

* * *

I walked outside and went to the parking lot. There were two guys talking next to a car. I recognized one of them; he was in my class, and one was a junior. The senior would be the dealer, Jackson informed me. His name was Kyle. They caught sight of me and the junior walked away and Kyle smiled.

"Theodore Seville, what brings you to my office today?"

"Oh ha ha. If it wasn't completely outlandish enough that you wait outside in the parking lot all day, you don't need to pretend like this is a movie or something."

He laughed, "You're in quite a mood today. You usually seem to be so happy-go-lucky, why is today so different? Do you have an itch only I can scratch?" This guy was a complete idiot.

"Again with the theatrics. What do you have?"

"What do you want?"

"A pain killer?"

"Ah, yes. I have some vicodin, perks, k-pins-"

"K-pins aren't for pain,"

"Well aren't we so knowledgeable. Considering this is your first time here I thought you wouldn't know anything," It's true, I hadn't bought anything before. Drugs hadn't been on my mind before today.

"Yeah alright, Vicodin will do fine."

"3 a pill then," I handed him a twenty and he handed me a baggie.

"No change?" I asked.

"Count it, there's seven in there. Consider it a gift for a first timer."

"Oh, well, thanks." I started to walk away.

"It was a pleasure," he got into the car next to him, which I could only assume was his, "I'll see you again soon!"

I certainly hope he's not right.

* * *

I went back inside and past the guards. They didn't question me. When I got into a bathroom I took the bad out and cut the pill in half and took it. Almost immediately, it started to work. For the first time in many weeks, the pain alleviated. I sat down on the floor again. It smelled like urine. I sat there for a while and looked back at my watch. It was five till one. I had been done for almost a half hour. I got up and started back for class.

"Mr. Seville, wonderful for you to join us again!" Mr. Williams threw his hands in the air. What a clown, making a spectacle out of me. It didn't bother me, "Where have you been?"

"I've been feeling sick. You know when you can't decide if you're going to throw up or not. I was in that limbo for a while," The class started to laugh and I smiled.

"Well, did you make a decision?"

"I chose not to vomit," The bell rang. I went over and grabbed my bag. Jeanette stood up and walked over to me.

"You feel better?"

"Like new, thanks," her eyes light up. She must have believed me. How high was I right then? I'm not sure. I was high enough to seem fine. The pain was gone, that's all that mattered to me. The side effects were making me feel fantastic otherwise. No complaints really.

The last period of the day went normally, and completely pain free. I left and met Alvin and Simon at our lockers. Alvin threw me the keys.

"It's you turn to drive!" he shouted as he started to walk away. I put my things away and caught up with them. I threw the keys to Simon.

"I didn't sleep last night," I didn't want to risk anything, "It would be a bad decision for me to drive right now," I knew Simon would take the bait. He was cautious and responsible.

"That's true, I'll drive, but tomorrow, it's your turn."

"Fair enough."

* * *

It was about six o'clock when Eleanor and I were supposed to meet to finish a project we had been working on about The House of Spirits by Allende. It wasn't too complicated. She arrived a bit late, and, as usual, was very apologetic. We went to the basement, where I was starting to spend most of my time. There were old couches, from when Dave was a bachelor and my desk was down there. I turn on some music and we got started again. It was a short screenplay about the characters.

About 30 minutes in, we finished the project. It was saved. It was printed, and we were done. Eleanor, who had been doing the typing while I had been doing the talking, looked up at me, "Are you alright?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I turned away from her, "Am I doing things that make it seem like I'm alright?"

"The headaches, I've noticed them. You took a 30 minute bathroom break today," I looked at her, "Jeanette told me about it."

"I'm fine. I can't afford to be not fine."

"Why's that?"

"As I stand, me, and all of us, stand on the edge of a knife. We're starting our Exuent tour in the summer, signally the end of our careers. Until then, we're all still under the microscope of the people's unforgiving eye."

"So what does that matter?"

"So what does that matter? They would tear me apart! I would be thrown out of the music business' conscientious."

"Theodore," she stood up and touched my elbow, "All because of a few headaches?"

"It's not just that. Please, if I tell you this, you can't tell anyone, alright?"

"You can always trust me, you know that."

"Ellie, I've been waking up outside sometimes."

"So you sleep walk I do it to," she smiled and brought herself closer.

"My vision blurs. I'm anxious and I feel like I'm on the verge of falling apart at any moment."

She looked worried, "Have you told a doctor any of this yet? You could be really sick!"

"The shadows play with my eyes. I can't discern what's real and what's a dream sometimes. I wake up thinking I've gone thinking I've gone through an entire day sometimes. I lose contact with my sense of reality and I wake up on the other side. My soul drifts, I can feel it drifting."

"Teddy-" Teddy, she's never called me that before, "You need to go to a doctor."

"I can't, not until we finish the tour. I owe it to everyone to let us go out without any sort of tainting."

"We won't be tainted! You won't be tainted!"

"We'll only be remembered by how I went crazy and couldn't do the final concert. I'll be fine. If I don't do this, we can't fade out of the public's mind easily. That's what you want right? We agreed upon that last year. To fade. We can't do it if I start taking medication and start seeing a psychiatrist."

"You can't do this to yourself."

"Yes I can," she looked up at me. She grabbed my hand and led me to the couch. I sat down, and she sat down in my lap, facing me. She leaned in, our lips met. I don't know what to say at this point. My eyes were wide open. I slowly closed them. She came off of me. I'm still in complete shock. It had been ten years since we meet. She was my best friend.

"Well, if you're going to try this whole crazy bullshit, I'm going to be there with you. I don't condone it by any means. At all. I'm just aware that I can't change your mind. Instead of fighting it, I'm going to make sure you don't die in the process," she was so light hearted about it. She should be, she doesn't know the extent to which I suffer. Her optimism was rubbing off on me.

"Wha-?" I'm not nearly as articulate in my mind as I am in real life. She pounced on me, throwing me down to the couch. She was still on top of me, and again she pulled away.

"You're going to need someone in this journey. I'll be there for you."

"What if I end up being crazy, what will we do then?"

"I can't imagine you being crazy."

"Why's that?"

"You're sane enough to have a plan. You're sane enough to know you might be going slowly mad. You're sane enough to accept my help," She was bathed in the golden light of the old lamps. Was she here to save me?

"Why haven't we done this earlier?"

"I don't know, I was never sure about how you felt. I just didn't care tonight. You are in pain that much I can clearly see. I thought, it would be helpful for you to know that there's one person that loves you."

"I love you too Eleanor, I always have," She leaned in and we lost ourselves in time. When we came back to, it was nearing midnight. Dave was away on business thankfully. He would have yelled at me all night. She left and I stayed in the basement and slept there that night. When I went to sleep, I realized that it wasn't all just a dream, and that I had been awake. My headache faded away. I didn't need to take anything that night. Eleanor was already helping me. Before I went to sleep, I wondered what would happen to me that night and I started to wish.

I wished things were simple. I wished I could just be with her. I wished that I could just sleep. I wished that I didn't wake up from this dream.


	2. Part 2

Part 2

The next day I wasn't plagued by the headaches. I had a good night's sleep for the first time in a long time. I wonder why that is. Could it be because of her? Eleanor, you do so many things for me. The day went by normally. I decided to walk home with Eleanor that afternoon. Alvin and Simon knew why. They couldn't stop smiling. I hope they're happy. I hope that's why they were smiling.

"So, no headaches today?" It was hard to concentrate on her. Her very touch set my mind to wandering. We held hands as we walked through the park. I could only think of her touch. After a long pause, I answered her.

"Yeah it's been a great day. I'm not feeling bad, and I get to spend time with you," she smiled at me and we got closer to my house. Maybe I had over-estimated the chance happenings of my psyche. I guess I had only been sleepwalking. I had been really tired as a result. The sleep deprivation would explain everything. The silver lining of this fiasco? Eleanor. After years of sexual tension and subtle flirting, it's finally happened. I couldn't be happier right now. For the first time in days, the sky was clear and the sun was shining. WE got to my house, and I opened the door for her.

"Dave?" she said. She must be mistaken. Dave wouldn't be home for another two weeks. I walked into the door and put my backpack down. It was Dave.

"Hey Ellie, Theodore."

"Dave?" Why was he back? "what are you doing home?"

"I called him here." We looked over. A man in a white coat was sitting in the dark foyer. He stood up and I could see his face. It was ragged with years of experience, "Theodore, is it?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Martin. I've heard about your neurological problems. I'm here to help you."

I looked at Eleanor, she was looking at the floor, "No, there's nothing wrong. I'm fine! I'm completely sane!"

He stepped near Dave and stood next to him, "There's no reason to be startled. I'm going to help you."

"You, no-" What the hell! Eleanor, why have you betrayed my trust like this, why so quickly? I knew it wouldn't work, you would eventually betray me, but it's only been a few hours. I can't go to a mental hospital, what will the world think? We'll be ruined. I won't be able to do anything later in life without being known as the crazy one.

"What are you afraid of Theo?" Dave said. He was acting strangely, "We just want to help you."

"There's nothing to help," I turned to run, and Eleanor grabbed hold of me, "Ellie-"

"Teddy, I love you, and that's why I have to do this," she pulled out a large needle and stabbed me with it.

"Damn," I breathed. I grabbed her arm and slapped it away. She let go of me. For a second we just stood there and stared at each other.

"Are you going to let me push the plunger down?" She had a weird look on her face. What were her intentions? Does she really want to help me?

"No, I'm not," I pulled the needle out and ran out the door.

"Theodore, you won't escape," Dr. Martin said as he started to chase after me. He was floating off the ground; at least, I think he was. I couldn't see his feet; they were obscured by his jacket. I looked forward. The sky was dark again and it started to lightly rain. I turned corners, I ran until I thought I couldn't run anymore. I came to a courtyard. Why were there no cars around it? Where was I?

I couldn't see Dr. Martin anymore, and the rain had stopped. This weather is starting to confound me. In front of my was a beautiful garden in full bloom, and, in the center, was a fountain. I ran up to it and started to drink from it. The water was so fantastic. I jumped in. I was savage. I was an animal.

"Theodore, you need help," Dr. Martin had found me. What am I to do? "Look at yourself, you're insane. You look like an animal!"

I looked down at my reflection in the fountain's waters. I had changed into something I didn't recognize. I was shaggy and unkempt. My fur was completely matted and disgusting. What was I?

"We just want to help you," Alvin said as he appeared from the shadows.

"We love you," Simon said.

"You need to get better," Jeanette had appeared.

"And we can help you," Brittney came in behind Jeanette.

"Please Theodore," Dave said as he came in.

"Teddy-"Eleanor was the last to come. They were surrounding me on all sides. They started to get closer, step by step. I fell backwards into the fountain. They all had needles. Large, terrifying needles. What was in them?

"We are going to help you," When Dr. Martin finished his sentence, they all stabbed me. I screamed, and found myself in my bed, screaming. I was in a cold sweat. It was 5 am. It was so early. Tuesday Morning started like the last, a waking nightmare.

* * *

It was late April, the breeze rolled into my room in the early morning. I can't keep waking up at five; I'm not nearly getting enough sleep. The dream resounded with me. Had I put too much trust in Eleanor? She can't possibly be thinking of staying with this crazy scheme. Regardless of how rational I'm acting, she will want to do whatever she can to help me. That's at least mildly reassuring; I now had a confidant who I was able to talk to about all of my crazy problems. I can't believe I haven't fallen apart again. At least the headaches haven't set in yet. The door bell rings. Who could it be at this hour?

I got out of bed, in only my pajama bottoms again. It was hot out at night in late spring; I preferred to sleep in just pants. I walked down the stairs. The house was still and grey, covered in the dust of inactivity. I turned on the outside light and opened the door. Eleanor, she was standing there, holding a notebook. Why had she come here?

"I had a feeling you would be awake," she said as she walked into the house.

"Ellie, how? How did you know I was awake?"

"I didn't. I just had a feeling. You had been talking about not getting sleep and not knowing what was really real anymore. I just thought, maybe you would need me right now," She was far too good to me. Thank God she was here. I was still in shock from the dream and I didn't really know how to function that day, "How was your dream?"

This couldn't possibly be real. She knew way too much about my night as is, "how did you know I had a dream?"

"You wouldn't be awake if you hadn't," She was making too much sense. She couldn't be real.

"Alright, it's time for me to wake up now."

She laughed, "What are you talking about?" she took off her shoes and led me to the foyer. She turned on a light and suddenly the house seemed to be livable now. The shadows were eerie, and now they had nowhere to hide.

"You're making too much sense, you know too much about my day. Assumptions alone couldn't possibly have gotten you this far. Please, just stop tormenting me and let me wake up."

"Theodore," she leaned in and put her hand on my face, "This is real. I wish I had some sort of proof of it, but this is real," she stroked my hair and leaned in and kissed me, "I know you can't believe me, but just run on the assumption that most things you interact with are real."

I stood up, "That's the problem, I can't run on that assumption. My dreams are so vivid and lucid I have no idea what exactly is real anymore. I just went through my entire day last night. It's so tiring so go to bed and spend the entire day doing things, only to wake up a second time. I don't know what is real anymore! This could all be a dream!"

She started to tear up, "Theodore…"

I sat down and held her in my arms, "please, please, don't cry."

"I just can't imagine what you could possibly be going through right now," she nuzzled her head in my chest, "I just want you to be able to know what's real. We take it for granted until we stop knowing anymore. I, I just want you to be happy," she started to fully cry in my chest. This had to be real, didn't it?

"I love you Eleanor, thank you. Thank you for being here for me, as you have been for the last ten years."

She looked up at me with her beautiful eyes, "I love you too."

* * *

I took a shower and got ready for the day while Eleanor made breakfast. It was 6 am when we got back together and ate. She was a fantastic chef. Alvin and Simon slowly woke up to the smells of breakfast and wandered downstairs. They were groggy enough to not ask any questions. They probably assumed that Eleanor and I spent the night together. What a broad based assumption. Sure, we had been really close over the years, but we were never together until recently. I guess their assumptions saved my secret again. When they went back upstairs, we went into the basement.

"Ellie, what's the notebook for?"

"I want you to start writing down all of your surreal experiences in it. I think it will help you come to terms with it."

"Come to terms with them?"

"Yeah," she handed me the notebook, "Instead of running or hiding, confront all of your problems and get to know them. Maybe, when we're done, we can find the root problem and deal with it." I had honestly never thought of it that way. This was a really good idea; I opened the notebook and grabbed a pen from my desk. I started to write down the events of the last few days, the sleep walking, the dreams and the hallucinations. I came to last night and stopped.

"Is that it?" she asked me. It was 7am and we to leave in a few minutes. I didn't want to think about it. She had betrayed me, and the thought made me tremble.

"Not exactly, but we need to leave soon anyway. I'll finish it over the course of the school day," I closed the notebook and stood up. She followed me and we went upstairs.

"Theo!" Alvin yelled as we opened the door, "Oh hey, it's your day to drive. Oh, good morning Ellie."

"Although this is the second time I've seen you today Alvin, good morning to you too."

"Will you be riding with us?" Simon said as he descending the stairs.

She looked to me and I signified how I wanted her to answer, "I will be, yes?"

"Why exactly were you here so early today?" Simon asked, stepping closer to us. He had been on a tear, trying to find out what exactly was going one. He wasn't convinced yesterday that I was fine.

She looked at me again, wanting an answer. She had done well at reading my mind enough today, "Well, I stayed here last night, with Theo." That wasn't what I was thinking. The one time you needed to be discrete.

"What?" Alvin said.

She grabbed my hand and started to stroke my arm, "Well, Dave has been gone-"

"You two slept together?" Simon said, "I wasn't even aware that you two were dating!"

I chimed in, "Uh, yeah. It's been kind of a secret." That was so smooth.

"Yeah, would you like details?" She turned to me and started leaning in towards my face, "It was rather," she turned head drastically to look at the two of them, "intense."

"Please, for my sanity, don't go further," Simon walked out the door. His sanity, indeed what a concept! For him to beg for his sanity, if only her knew how it feels to really not know if your sanity is intact or not, "So, yeah, you two ready to go?"

I looked over to Eleanor and she answered, "my car is here, so I'll just drive, you want to come, Teddy?"

Alvin looked at me, surprised, "You let her call you Teddy? I thought you hated that name,"

I didn't know what to do in this situation, Eleanor obviously didn't know anything about my dislike for the name, but she's been calling me it for a while now, "Hate is such a strong word, Alvin. I don't love it, but I let Eleanor call me it," she smiled, which was a good sign for now.

She put her arms around me and said, "I guess he just prefers me," she was trying to get them away. She didn't want them there; did she have something she needed to tell me?

"Alright, so I'll be leaving now," Simon said as he grabbed the keys, "Let's go, Alvin."

"Yeah, later guys," Alvin and Simon walked out of the door. Eleanor let go of me and her smiled faded. I turned around, not really knowing what to expect.

"So, you obviously wanted them gone, any particular reason?"

She went back into the kitchen and grabbed her purse quickly, "I just wanted to apologize for calling you Teddy. I wasn't aware that you hated the name."

"I don't mind it. Actually, I would prefer you call me Teddy."

She smiled and grabbed my hand, "Thanks."

"I still owe you a lot."

* * *

At school, I was still plagued by the headaches, and what was worse, I didn't get to see Eleanor all day today. On the second rotation of classes, we didn't have any classes together. I do get to see Brittney, so there's a happy, well maybe not happy, face to see. Friendly, at the very least, was good enough. It was Economics, a subject that we hated, and by the third block of the day, I simply could not stand being at school anymore. That may had be the most torturous part of this whole experience, not enjoying school. I needed to enjoy school; I wouldn't be able to survive next year if I didn't. Eleanor would at least be at the same college as me, but none of the others would be. I feared the unknown, and it seemed my life was simply all unknowns right now.

I remembered the dream I had, and the notebook that Eleanor had given me. The class had lulled into busywork that wasn't due at the end of the period, so it was basically free time. I had time to recount the experience. I found myself not wanting to do it. I sat for a few minutes, staring at the notebook. Eleanor was sure to read it with me after school. I don't want her to know that my dream implicated her in my betrayal. I grabbed my pen, and waited for a while before I started to write. She was a perfectly rational woman; I'm sure she would understand that I have no control over the subject matter of my dreams. I can control what I do, and I can respond to the situations, but I can't control what's going on. I can't change the characters, the situation, the setting, anything like that. On the other hand, she realized that my dreams are lucid and vivid; perhaps she would misconstrue that I can't control them and think that I can. In that situation, she would think I was in control of her betrayal. That's something I don't want to deal with.

I decided. I started to write. The pen furiously wrote the mundane details of the dream, my day at school, my lack of headaches, and all the things that weren't worth remembering. I got to the meat of the dream and I stopped. My hand stopped moving, and, for a while, I believed it to be of my own free will. I couldn't move it further. Why? Why couldn't I write down the details of my dream? Was my subconscious trying to stop me? In the corner of my eye I noticed something white. It was noticeable; the room was the most vibrant in the school. The whiteness started to invade the rest of my right eye. I couldn't see out of it, and it started to move to my left eye. I opened my mouth the scream, but nothing happened. The whiteness consumed my entire vision.

I sat there, unable to move any part of my body for what seemed like an eternity until, as soon as it came, I could see again. It was different now, I looked around. I was floating. I had come out of my seat, and now I was floating above everyone else. They couldn't seem to see me. I could see Brittney, hard at work, along with the other twenty students in the class. My teacher was looking directly at me, but said nothing. I looked down, and I saw my own body. I was floating out of my body. What in the world was happening? I had felt myself drift, as if more than just my body was a part of my body. For example, I could touch more things than my reach allowed. This, this was a complete separation. I couldn't believe it. My body sat as if nothing was wrong, I wasn't slumping or showing any signs of being asleep. Could this be real? Had I fallen asleep, and now I was dreaming? I looked at the time; it was about thirty minute until the end of the period. Time was still moving regularly, I had been paralyzed for less than a minute. I was able to move again, in fact, I was able to fly. I floated around the room like I was swimming around in a pool of air. I decided to test my luck.

I swam right to the wall, and, sure enough I passed right through it. I was out in the hallway. Where was Eleanor at this time? She was in Government at the other side of the building. I started to fly around the building. I flew outside and touched the sky. I fell back down at crazy speeds. I went upwards again, high than the last time. The sun burned my eyes when I was up so high. It was a beautiful day above the clouds. I came back down, faster than before. I found myself in the Government room, where I wanted to be all along.

"Ellie!" I shouted. She didn't respond.

"Ellie! Can you hear me?" I was yelling at the top of my lungs. I guess she couldn't hear me. She was working so diligently. They were taking a test. I floated over to her and looked down upon her. She was so beautiful; she even seemed to glow in the light of the room. Perhaps that was my imagination; I can't exclude that possibility considering I was flying outside of my body at the time. I wrapped myself around her, coming down to the surface and standing. She didn't notice me. Even in the state that I was in, I could feel her warmth.

I came back to my room and saw my body, unmoving. Nobody seemed distressed, so I guess nobody noticed. I floated back over to it. I've never done this before; how does one re-enter one's body? I stood straight put in air, and went back in feet first. As if it was in reverse, the whiteness left my eyes. I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. I move my limbs around, they were a little stiff. I guess being away had made them tense up a bit.

"How's the working going, Brittney?"

She looked over to me, "Oh, it's going fine. How are you doing?"

"On the work or otherwise?"

"Either or."

"I guess I'm doing fine; thanks for asking."

* * *

I walked with Eleanor after school ended to her car. I explained to her the entire out of body experience. We got into the car and started driving.

"I've heard of it before, it's called astral projection."

"Ah yeah, that sounds familiar," I said. I can't remember where I had, but I had.

"Here's the silver lining, some people spend their entire lives trying to achieve something that you accidentally walked into."

I laughed. It was possibly the first time I had laughed since the whole ordeal had started that wasn't contrived or for show, "Always looking on the upside, thanks Ellie."

"You know, that's why I'm here. I especially liked one part of your story."

"What was that?"

"The part when you came to visit me."

I smiled and she pulled over at a park, "why are we here?"

"I wanted to do something different," she got out of the car and I followed her, "There's a part of the park. It's in a forest; I've always thought of it as dreamy and surreal. I think the setting would be fitting."

We started to walk through the park, and into the woods, "Ellie, have you ever seen the movie Pan's Labyrinth?"

"No, why?" as we walked into the forest, the air became cooler and the light had a blue-ish tint to it. Cotton spores were floating in the air, and there were small puddles of water on the track. She grabbed a hold of my hand and diverted off of the path, "this part is off the trail. Why did you ask me if I've seen that movie?"

A few butterflies fluttered past as we moved through the brush and the air was cool and dreamy, "I'm not sure, it just that these woods remind me of the forests in the movie," I looked up through the canopies of the forests and saw the sun peering through the trees. The light started to get dimmer as we got deeper.

"We're almost there,"

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there," she pulled back a few branches and revealed a shaded clearing, "When we were younger, I would come here to be alone. When we used to live at our old house, it was only a five minute walk to the park and we would be there all the time. I found it one time when some girls had been harassing me. There's a reason for everything, Teddy," she let herself fall onto the soft earth and she motioned for me to do the same.

I let myself fall back. When I hit the ground, cotton spores flew into the air and landed all around us. She nuzzled into me and took my backpack. She took out the notebook and started to read about my dream.

"Was that it? You just went to school and the dream ended."

"Well, not exactly. When I had my out of body experience, I was writing about my dream. My body suddenly stopped and it took over. I had stopped when I came to the part of the dream that isn't included," I started to tell her about my dream and she suddenly went from bliss to sadness.

"Theo, I'm sorry that I did that to you in your dream."

"Don't be, it wasn't you."

"Have you ever considered that your dreams have something to tell you?"

"I haven't. Usually I'm so freaked out about what situation I find myself in that I don't consider it."

"I have a feeling your dreams are trying to tell you something about yourself or they're trying to help you with some deep problem," the light started to play with my eyes, "Do you think you could write down all of the dreams and experiences that you've had since the beginning?"

"Yeah, it's possible. I remember all of them well; they're vivid in my mind, like they actually happened."

"Cool, I'll start reading things and be ready when you're done."

"Ellie, when did you get to be such an expert on the subject?"

She laughed coolly, "When you needed me to be."

* * *

Eleanor and I left the clearing and got back into her car. It was six pm at that point. I got a call from Alvin. They had ordered dinner and it was waiting on us when we got back. Somehow, he just assumed that Eleanor would be there. These assumptions that they've been living their lives on, it's a scary thought that we invest so much in intangible thoughts that can't be proven that they exist until they're gone.

We got inside and Jeanette and Brittney were there as well and Alvin and Simon. It had been long speculated if Jeanette and Simon had been dating, but it was obvious that Alvin and Brittney just mess around together. Well, they mess around together a lot, so I understand how people get confused. No matter, the real question is why were they there?

We walked into the kitchen and they were all sitting at the table, eating and talking softly. When we came in, they stopped. We were hand in hand when Simon asked, "Alright guys, how loing have you two been together?"

Eleanor laughed, "Why do you ask?"

Brittney chimed in, "we're now under the impression that you two were dating secretly and now we want to know how long you had us deceived. It's just that we all were surprised considering that the two of you can't keep secrets worth anything."

"It hasn't been that long, maybe a month," I said.

"And you two had sex last night?" Alvin said. Judging by the reactions of Jeanette and Brittney , this was news to them. They seemed surprised, but not angry. They obviously had done it before too, "don't you think that was a bit fast?"

I laughed, "most definitely the pot calling the kettle black. How many one night flings have you had?" We walked out at that cue, knowing that Brittney was about to kill Alvin. We went back down to the basement, and Eleanor got on the computer while I sat on the floor. I took out the notebook and started to write.

"Good work upstairs by the way," she said as she turned around to face me.

"Thanks, I knew what to do to get them fighting again," I continued to write and she was looking this up on the computer. We sat in silence for almost ten minutes as we did our separate thing, then she turned around to me again.

"Theo, how long has this been going on?"

I thought hard. It had been a while now, and I was trying to think of the first few experiences, "Well, it started after Christmas Break with slight headaches and really vivid dreams. I can't explain to you how vivid these dreams are aside from telling you that they're indistinguishable from real life. It was in January when I had a dream that predicted the future. I dreamt what was going to happen the next day, and, sure enough, it did."

"And that's what's truly terrifying, isn't it? You don't know when these dreams are going to actually happen."

"Exactly, I had no idea if the dream I had last night was going to happen today or not."

"How accurate are the dreams?"

"They aren't general enough for me to make the difference negligible. I'll be able to see what the teachers are going to say the next day, down to the word. I've seen what everyone will do with their day. I saw the day that Alvin broke his leg in a dream, and it happened exactly the same way. The dreams gave way to the sudden sleepwalking and the day hallucinations. The hallucinations would be a split second, maybe something in the corner of my eye, and they haven't increased in a while, and, in fact, I haven't had any in a while," I was writing everything down furiously, "I wake up outside sometimes. I did on Monday, but that's already in the journal. I'll wake up doing things too, like I'll be fully dressed and just come to doing something, like shopping or just walking around. It's odd, and terrifying."

"It sounds like it, please go on."

"Well that's really it, and it's all written down now, along with the finer details of my dream last night."

"Theo, I want to stay with you tonight."

"What?"

"I want to sleep here with you. I want to see how you sleep, and how you behave," she pulled out a camera from her bag, "I'll be recording us the entire night."

I'm not sure how comfortable I am with this. I have at least some sort of shame to still cover. If it's the second night in a row, Alvin and everyone else will think that all we do is have sex. How completely unfair, all the reputation with none of the actual action, "Well, do you need to sleep here to record my sleep?"

"I want to be able to respond to everything that happens as it happens," she stood up and helped me up, "and I want to be closer to you. I feel like since this whole thing has started we've been bonding but in a different way, as two people who are trying to solve a goal. I want us to just be able to forget for at least a night and just be together." I wonder if we will actually have sex tonight. It's odd to think that it really had been only two days of formal dating and things had occurred so quickly. Is it so odd to think? We had been together for many years, just not officially. The feelings and closeness was there definitely, so it had actually been a long time. I guess I'll see where the night takes us. I went and sat down on the couch and she followed. I lost myself in her for what seems like hours after that.

It was late, maybe 2 am when I heard the first crash. I got up sheepishly and asked Eleanor, "Did you hear that?"

We had been spooning and she turned to me, "Hear what?"

There was a crash again, "That."

She sat up, "I certainly do,"

"Wait, before we go any further, smack me in the face."

"Whoa, wait, why?" she asked as she was putting on her clothes.

"Thinking about all of my dreams I realized that I never feel pain in them, so if I feel the smack we can continue on." Without a moment's hesitation, she slapped me across the face, "Oh holy shit that hurt,"

She ran over to me, "Oh my God I'm sorry!" The crash happened again.

I stopped hunching over in pain and stood straight up, "We need to go."

"Yeah," She said, we started to walk up the stairs and noticed a blue light glowing in the kitchen.

"Do you see that light?"

"Is it the refrigerator?"

"No, it's not," we paused for a second and I went up first with her closely following. WE walked softly, so softly our footsteps couldn't be heard. As we got closer, I got to the wall outside of the kitchen and put my back up against it. Eleanor followed suit. I peered my head around the corner. Something was there, "Something's in there."

"What is it?"

"I don't know," It was rustling around, but I couldn't make out a discernable shape. The light seemed to obscure it. I looked over to Eleanor, "What should we do?"

"I don't know. What I'm really confused about is the fact that I know what's going on," she's right, she can see everything. Maybe I'm not crazy, just more in tuned with whatever this thing is.

"I'm going to go confront it," I said as I started to turn the corner. She grabbed me and pulled me back.

"No, don't. I don't want you to get hurt. We don't even know what we're dealing with here. It could kill you. "

"If it wanted to it would have a long time ago, but it hasn't yet. I think this thing is either connected to my problems or is the source of them all. Either way, I'm going to reclaim my life and figure out what the fuck is going on," I turned the corner and she let go. My whole body was in view of the creature. It shifted its juxtaposition, and maybe it looked at me. I can't tell if it has eyes or not. It leaped at me, knocking me over as it ran past. Eleanor, it better not hurt her. I jumped up and went back to her; she was on the ground, but fine.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it just knocked me over and ran away," I helped her up, she was shaking. Regardless of what she said, she wasn't fine and it was my fault, "Theodore, what's going on? What was that?"

"I don't know Ellie. Whatever it was it wanted me to know that it exists."

I certainly knew that now. I wish I knew what I know now back then.


	3. Part 3

**A/N: Sorry for the REALLY long wait, I starting writing Adoration and Our Ill Will and got distracted. Honestly, I had like 7/8ths of this done for a long time. Anyway, so, this story took a kinda different turn than my original idea had it, so I'm going to re-release another story with the same first chapter or so called Idolatry. It's a lot more thriller and this one just got so ridiculous when I was writing it. Regardless, I liked where I was going with it, but it got more fantasy than I originally planned. Next part is the last part, I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**

Eleanor and I stood in shock over the morning's events. It was 4 am at this point and we still hadn't gone back to sleep. We sat there on the kitchen floor, waiting for the other to say something that would make the both of us understand what was going on. I was holding her in my arms. I don't think she was scared, just cold and confused. She didn't seem scared; she never gets scared.

"So, I have a feeling you're not crazy anymore."

"Or maybe it's just contagious," she smiled.

We sat in silence on the cold floor for a little while, and I stood up. She looked up at me with confused eyes.

"What's wrong?" I said.

"You seem so unfazed, but I'm really incredibly confused. I don't even know if I want to stand up right now. I just want to sit," she looked chilled to the bone. The light had left her eyes. That was the most startling thing about the whole situation, "Please, help me up," I grabbed her arm and pulled her up. We stood for a while and just looked at each other. Nothing needed to be said.

"You want to go back downstairs?" She nodded her head and we started walking downstairs. We sat down together and she wrapped herself in the blanket. We waited in silence for a while.

"So, any ideas what the hell that was?"

She looked at me, "I can't imagine what it could be. We both saw it. We both knew it was there. It could be, something-" she stopped.

"What?"

"You're going to think this is ridiculous, but it could be something supernatural."

"Like a ghost?"

"Yes, like a ghost," she put her head on my shoulder. It wasn't nearly as ridiculous as it sounded. After all that had happened, nothing seemed ridiculous at this point. She got up and got back on the computer and I followed, looking over her shoulder.

"What are you looking for?"

"Anything. Anything that matches the description of what we saw," I sat back down by her side. She was searching for about twenty minutes before she perked up again. It was almost five when she turned to me again, "The colors match what happens with spirits, but the physical manifestation is something more evil, something that isn't wanted."

"What does it say?"

"It could be one of two things. One, it could be a poltergeist that is bonded to the house, us, or something about us. Poltergeist can be mostly harmless, most of the time scaring people that don't know any better. The other is a bit more, scary."

"Well, the suspense is simply killing me," I said sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes, "The other could be a demon," The word demon caused my demeanor to change.

"A demon? Are you sure?"

"Well no, but it's a possibility. I'm no demonologist or spiritualist or what have you, but the signs point to yes," I was shocked and she was sitting above me. I was in a trance. She started to snap in front of me, "Teddy, come back to me."

"What?" I came back. I wasn't even thinking about anything. The sun started to rise, and my brothers would be awake soon, "I'm sorry. The idea of a demon attacking me, attacking us is incredibly, unnerving."

"You seem to be so collected."

"I'm not, it's just a sham," she laughed, "I know it seems that I'm calm, but I think that I'm calmer because I'm scared that this involved you now. I didn't want you to be involved; I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be, Theo," she ran her hand through my hair, "I wanted to be with you and, although this is starting to be really supernatural and weird, I'm in it through the end," I smiled and she turned back to the computer.

* * *

We decided to stay home that day. Simon and Alvin didn't ask any questions. We both had decided that we just didn't feel like going that day, but the excuse wasn't needed. They wouldn't have believed that we were feeling sick; I didn't really care what they believed my reality was already thrown into a loop.

"Theo, I want you to go back to sleep," It wasn't a terrible idea, as much as I didn't like it. At this point, it was ten a.m. and sleeping was out of the question. I didn't want to sleep, and I didn't want to see anything anymore.

"I really don't want to sleep anymore. I don't want to see anything, and I don't want to be invaded," I was eating cereal at the counter while she sat at the table. I took another bite and started to talk, "It's too dangerous; I'm not sure if they're out to attack me or not."

"Please don't talk with your mouth full," she laughed, "it's disgusting!"

"I'm sorry," I swallowed, "you understand, right?"

"I do, but it seems that the best idea is to communicate with them."

"How is that the best idea? It could leave us vulnerable!"

"There's a reason they've come for you and we need to find out what that is. The best way to do it is to use your dreams. The two are connected; I have a feeling."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, it seems that the two occurred at the same time. They are two events dependent on one another. I know it. I just know it."

"I, I don't know if I can," I sighed.

"You can't be planning on not sleeping anymore for the rest of your life? Sooner or later, you will have to face whatever is invading you. The best place to face them is in your dreams."

She was right. I'll have to sleep again sometime, and I could keep expecting her to remain with me every night. At least this time, I'll know she's there with me, "How are we going to do it?"

"I already have."

"Wait what?"

"I crushed up some melatonin into your orange juice. I thought you might not have wanted to participate, so I thought I might need to unknowingly drug you."

"You can't be serious, how much did you put in it."

"Thirty milligrams."

"What?" I can't believe I let her drug me, "What's the LD 50 of melatonin?"

"It's naturally occurring in your body, there is not LD 50. I suggest you get to bed, you have about 3 minutes until it starts to metabolize."

"Oh shit," I stood up and ran upstairs and she followed me, "How long am I going to be asleep?"

"However long you want to be. It will wear off after you wake up with no side effects like grogginess. The 5-htp I gave you will give you crazy dreams too."

"What? What's 5-htp?" I hopped into bed.

"It's the metabolized form of melatonin. It amplifies dreaming."

"How will we know if the dream is them or not?"

"I'll leave that up to you," I started to close my eyes, "You will know better than I would. Goodnight Teddy, I love you!"

"I hate you-"I yawned, "so much right now-"and I was sleep. I was hyper aware of all of my surroundings. It was surprising; I started to dream right away. It must have been a result of them. It was impossible to fall into REM so quickly, and the dreams experienced outside of REM aren't this vivid. I was back in school, alone. Sitting in a classroom, the chairs were empty and the room was calm with the feeling of inactivity. I looked outside; the clouds were flying by at incredible speeds. I lingered for a while, marveling at the incredible speeds. Speed. Why was it moving so quickly?

"What do you see?" Eleanor called to me from outside of my dream. I could never be truly sure if it was her or not, but I had a feeling it was her. Her voice was soft and echoing in the room.

"I'm in school," my mouth moved along outside of my dream, "Everything is in black and white and time seems to be moving quickly."

"Go investigate and keep me posted on various things you see."

I walked away from the window and moved towards the door. It opened for me. When it opened it startled me. No, it shook me. To my core. I placed my right hand on the opened door and peered out into the hallway. To the left, there was an endless hallway. Again, I can't be sure if that was true, but it seemed that everything repeated in the same sequence. I looked to my right, just barely peering over the side of the door. I would be lying if I didn't say that I was terrified right then. At the end of the hallway there were doors leading outside. The windows were glowing a faint blue.

"It's the same blue light."

"What?"

"The blue light that masked the creature this morning. I see the same blue light coming from outside of the school," I left the room and started to walk out towards the door. My footsteps weren't making a sound. As I got closer to the light, they started to get louder. I put my hand on the door and I could hear everything again. I opened it and stepped outside. Everything was suddenly full of life. People were walking around and cars were everywhere. It was busier outside of the school than it ever was in real life. People walked past me and walked through me. They were bathed in the same blue light.

"The light was being emitted by the people walking outside."

"There are more people?" she responded.

"Yeah, a lot of them. I wonder what it means," I walked out towards the street and noticed my car was there. It was painted blue, not it's usually green. I reached in my pockets and noticed that I had my keys, which were also blue. They were leading me. They were talking to me. They were telling me what to do. I didn't have anything else in my pockets but the keys. They wanted me to drive somewhere. I went over to the car and noticed what looked like blue paint on the ground surrounding it. Actually, it was more akin to blood. I got in the car and a blue line coming from the blue blood on the ground started to form. I pulled out of the parking space and started to drive towards it.

"There's a blue line. Oh yeah, I'm in my car now. Yeah, but I'm following the blue line in my car."

"Where is it leading you?"

"I'm not sure. I'll tell you when I get there," I started to drive around the city. There weren't any other cars out on the streets and the lights were always green. I didn't know how the law worked in my dreams so I didn't want to chance it. Regardless, it seemed that I didn't have my wallet or drivers license so I didn't want to be thrown in dream jail. Dream jail, what a concept! I should be able to control what happens in these lucid dreams but I know that I can't and I haven't been able to in the past. Why even attempt it when it was easy enough to just not do anything. The blue line finally led me somewhere. The park. The park that Eleanor and I had visited yesterday. My car turned off on its own and the keys disappeared.

"I'm at the park, the same exact place we went yesterday," the blue line was still leading me into the forest, "I think I know where it's leading me."

"Where?" there was excitement and concern in her voice.

"The clearing we went to," the same exact things were happening that happened yesterday. The butterflies, the blue light. Everything. The blue light! It was there yesterday too, if only faintly. I can't believe I didn't put the two together until now, "You know how it the clearing has an odd blue tinge in the light?"

"Yes, oh wow. I didn't even realize it until now."

"Exactly. It's the same blue light," I tripped on a root and found myself laying in the clearing. The blue light was collected in orbs all around the clearing with the biggest one in the middle. The blue line was leading me to the biggest one.

"Theodore, thank you for coming," the voice was coming from the largest orb. The other orbs floated to it and the manifested itself into the shape of a young man, no older than his twenties.

"Who the hell are you?"

Eleanor heard this and said, "Theo, what's happening? Are you alright?"

"Please don't be alarmed I don't mean you any harm," he said in a soft wispy voice.

"Have you been the one that been attacking me? Making me think I'm crazy? I don't care who you are anymore, I'll kill you where you stand," rage had come over me. I wanted to eliminate whatever this man was, even though I didn't know how to.

"Teddy! Please, what are you doing?" her voice was getting fainter as I focused on the man.

"Wait, stop. Please, Theodore, I need your help."

"My help? Has this been what this is all about?" Eleanor didn't hear me this time, I wasn't talking outside anymore.

"Teddy? I'm going to get you out of there. If you don't want me to, please respond!" I wasn't hearing her anymore. The man was attracting my attention.

"Theodore, I need you to come to this site and-" Eleanor had started shaking me. I awoke and took a huge breath.

"Theo, I'm so sorry I made you do this! Please. Please forgive me," she grabbed a hold of me and started hugging me hardly.

"Ellie, don't worry," I smiled, "I think I know what I have to do now."

* * *

We got into my car and drove like mad to the park. It was about 2 p.m. at this point. Along the way, I explained everything to Eleanor. She was chilled; at least, that's how it seemed. She had never acted like this before. In the past, she was a pillar of support and strength. The whole experience started to bother her, I can tell. I was used to the supernatural experiences. She obviously wasn't.

"So you weren't told what you have to do yet?"

"Not yet," we arrived and got out of the car. It was warm out; it was the first day in two weeks that it hadn't rained. Forecasters were freaking out. It never rained this much in southern California, "all I know right now is that he wanted me to come here," I paused and stopped walking. Eleanor continued for a second and stopped. She turned around, "what if he's a demon? What happens then?"

She walked back and grabbed my hand, and said somberly, "I'm not sure," we continued to walk forward.

We went back the same way we went yesterday. It was déjà vu en masse. I had experienced the same few events for the third time now. I could predict everything that was going to happen, assuming that it stayed the same. It might have been confirmation bias. It might have been the spirit that talked to me. I might have been crazy. It was all exactly the same. The blue lights lead us as we walked through the forest and made it to the clearing. The light was soft, but present. I was starting to get scared.

"Did he tell you what to do when you got here?"

"No," we sat and waited. A butterfly flew in from the forest to the clearing. It sat on my shoulder, and it could hear it's every move.

"Theodore, Eleanor," It was soft, but the voice was there. I stood up.

"Where are you?" I asked.

Eleanor stood up and grabbed my hand, "Did you hear something?"

"Yeah, he called out our names."

"I'm here, on your shoulder," I looked over. The butterfly was talking to me.

"The butterfly?"

"Yes, the butterfly. Thank you for coming you two."

"Who are you? What do you want with us?" Eleanor asked.

"I'm so sorry I've had to do this to you two. I'm Robert Swaim."

"So, you're a person?" I asked.

"Yes, I was. It's been almost ten years now since I've died. Theodore, you've been good to come here. I need your help, and your help to Eleanor."

"How do you know who we are?" Eleanor asked.

"When I died, like some spirits, I had unfinished business to take care of here on Earth. Where you two are standing now is the site of my unmarked grave. I was murdered, and buried about ten feet away from here. After staying here for so long, I've been able to focus enough energy to take the form of these butterflies, and, as a result, the glowing blue light you see. Eleanor, all those years ago when you came here, I was able to watch you and try to contact you. I thought, perhaps you would be able to help me with my little predicament. Alas, you weren't attuned with your spiritual nature."

"Spiritual nature?" Eleanor asked.

"Everyone has the innate ability to sense the presence of spirits, and some are more attuned than others. You aren't very attuned, so I haven't been able to talk to you until now."

"How are we able to talk now?" Eleanor asked.

"I'll get to that in a second. For a while, I was trying to search around the area, hoping to solve my problem but it expended more energy than I was able to acquire. I waited, and you kept returning. It was so disheartening; if I was only able to get your attention I could finally finish my business here and move on. While I waited, I would pass the time by listening to your soul speak. It told me of a boy you were very close to, Theodore here. That was five years ago, when I had just enough energy to move farther from the forest. I spent time trying to find Theodore, and I was finally able to a few months ago. I'm sorry for starling you, but I had to get your attention."

"So you caused all my waking dreams, my headaches, everything?" I asked.

"Yes, you see, the easiest time for me to talk to you would have been in a dream, but I was never able to actually control your dreams. The whole event was a complete fiasco, you would fall into some depressive thought and the dream would derail into nightmares. Coupled with my ability to give you vivid and lucid dreams, these would be terrifyingly real. I didn't know that would happen, but I am sorry nonetheless. I needed a way to make my presence known. You needed to stop blaming your dreams and events on psychosis and start blaming them on me so I could lead your dreams, like the one I just did, to me."

"And that's where the attack came from."

"Well, I tried to put you into a dreaming state at first. The astral projection that you experienced was me calling to your soul. As soon as you came out, I was going to talk to you, but you flew away, quite quickly I might add. The physical manifestation was for the best. I conjured up most of my will and moved the light to your house. I'm sorry, I had to. I needed you to know who I was."

"Why couldn't you just talk to me in person?" I asked.

"Well, I can't move my consciousness very far. I can move the light around, although it is physically taxing. When you're dreaming, you need to be with my consciousness for me to talk to you, like we are now. Also, my physical form, the butterfly, is only here to keep my soul here. I can't take the form of my human self; it requires much too much work. Any more questions?"

We were both dumbfounded. This wasn't what either of us expected, "I guess the only real question is how can we help you?" Eleanor said.

"I was killed here, but I don't know what happened to my wife. Can you please find out?"

"That's it?" I said.

"That's it."

* * *

We left the forest and got back out into my car. Neither of us was talking, but it wasn't out of talking, but out of fear. Confusion maybe is the better word.

"It can't be that simple. Why would he go through all the trouble to summon us for something so simple?" Eleanor said as we drove through the city. The streets were empty, as was usual for this time of day.

"I'm not sure how the spirits word works, but I'm imagining that he could be lying. I was feeling that way too. How could nobody have been able to pick up on his presence in all that time?" I said.

"Well, he did say that I couldn't see him."

"That's true," we pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, "For now, we should try and find out who is wife is. It would have been helpful if we had a name, at the very least or if he divulged some information about her or something," I opened the door and was greeted by Alvin and Simon.

"What's going on, you two?" Simon asked. He looked intent on knowing what had been happening. Alvin was sitting on the stairs apathetically.

"Nothing, why?" I said.

"Got your project done?" Simon said.

"Yeah man."

"What class was it for?" I looked over to Alvin. He definitely didn't care what we had been up to the last few days.

I walked past him and Eleanor followed, "Why does it matter?"

"Why don't you just answer?"

"Simon, I don't know what your motives are and I really don't care. What I do care about is that you are going to the ends of the Earth to pry into my life. Back off and get a hobby. You seriously need one," We walked back into the basement and I hopped onto the computer and opened a search page. Simon followed us down.

"Theo, that was rather uncalled for," Alvin hadn't followed.

"Seriously, you need to quit. I don't want to deal with you right now."

"Well, like it or not, you're going to deal with me."

Eleanor put her hand on his shoulder, "Please Simon, not now," he looked at her with inquisitive eyes and turned back.

"To be continued, Theodore."

"Oh how cliché," I searched his name, Robert Swaim. The first result detailed his case. It was unsolved, and nobody had found the body. It had his wife's name, Michelle.

"Michelle," Eleanor said.

"I wonder, would she still live around here?"

We went through the phonebook. Nothing. We went through the registry. Nothing. She seemed to have disappeared out of thin air. I was starting to get frustrated. The clock struck 10pm and we split ways for the night. I was certain that the night was going to be a tad different than the previous nights. I slowly drifted off to sleep and started to hear a voice.

"Theodore?" The voice called. It was faint.

"Robert?"

"Yes," I was in a small room. Maybe an apartment. Robert appeared before me, sitting on the couch opposite from me, "Have you had any luck finding my wife?"

"Not yet. She doesn't appear in any of the town's documents. I can't even find your marriage records. Her name is Michelle, right?"

"It is," he stood up, "when I was captured, my assailants told me they would soon be after my wife. I was never sure if they got her or not. That's why I've charged you. I suggest trying to find them, maybe you'll find her."

I looked around, "I'll do that. Do you have any idea who attacked you?"

He looked down, almost ashamed, "No… No I don't."

"Robert, where are we right now?"

"My sister's apartment," he wrote down the address on a piece of paper and gave it to me. I put it in my pocket, "Go there, she might be able to help you," Everything started to fade to black, and I woke up. I felt in my pocket. The paper was there, address and all.

* * *

In the morning, Eleanor and I decided to not go to school for the second day. We didn't give a reason, just went immediately to the address. It was 6 a.m. I hope she was still home.

We went up to the door and knocked. After a few seconds, we were greeted by a well dressed woman, who appeared to be about to leave for work. She was putting on her earrings when she answered.

"Um," she was obviously surprised, "good morning, do I know you?"

"Oh, well, hello, I'm Theodore Seville," I extended my hand which she shook, "and this is Eleanor Miller," Eleanor followed suit.

"Wait, you two are members of The Chipmunks, are you not? Well, two anthropomorphic chipmunks should have been my first clue," she laughed, "My children simply adore you. I should wake them, if you don't mind."

"Of course not," Eleanor said.

"Great, please come in," We came and sat down as she went and got her children.

"Look kids," her children walked , still in pajamas. There were two of them a boy and a girl. The boy looked to be eight years old, where as the girl was younger, maybe five, "Theodore and Eleanor from The Chipmunks are here for… well, I don't know why," They ran over to us and didn't say anything, rather, they stood in wonder.

"What are you names?" I asked.

"Bobby,"

"Rachel," They both said sheepishly.

"Well I tell you what, I'm going to go in the other room really quickly to talk to your mother. In the meantime, why don't you get Eleanor's autograph, and I'll do the same in a second," I stood up, and, hearing what I said, Robert's sister lead me into another room, "I never did get you name, "I said to her.

"It's Margaret. So why are you here?"

"It's about your brother. I was wondering if you knew what happened to Michelle?"

"Robert, I can't believe it's been almost ten years now. Wait, this is crazy. Why are you asking about Michelle?"

"Please, I will just seem all the more crazy if I tell you."

"I just don't know, you two, world renowned superstars come and surprise me. What the fuck is going on? This seems so much more ridiculous than it possibly could be. What do you want with us? With my family?"

"I… I can't tell you, just please, I need to find Michelle."

"Michelle. She was kidnapped by someone. The police never found anything on the crime. They said the guy was like a ghost, not leaving any fibers or prints. I don't even know why I'm telling you this," She wrote down an address, "This was the last place they lived. A couple liked in it shortly after, but they left within the year. It's been abandoned since. God, what am I doing?"

"Just know that you've really helped us," I grabbed the paper, "Please, could you not tell anyone about this?" Her son ran into the room we were in, followed by his sister and Eleanor.

"Theodore, can you please sign this? And this?" he handed me two pictures of Eleanor and I. That was cool I guess, a picture of just the two of us. I wasn't aware our publicist did a picture like this for us.

"Of course," I signed them and Eleanor led them back out of the room, "Can I have your trust?"

"Sure, sure. I just don't even know what to think anymore. Are you… Are you trying to find her?"

"We are."

"Why?" She asked as she got up and walked to the door. I followed her.

"As a favor for a friend."

"You would risk your lives for a favor?"

I hadn't considered that. Robert was killed and Michelle disappeared. What if we were to find her? We would be putting ourselves in extreme danger, "Yeah, I would," I motioned to and she got up, to the chagrin of the kids. I walked out of the door and Eleanor followed me, "Thank you. I never even got your name."

"I'm Angela Marquis," she started to close the door, "Theodore, Eleanor, please. Find her," she closed the door and we started to walk to the car. The sky had become overcast and the breeze was cold.

"So," Eleanor said as we were walking, "what did you find out?"

"She gave me an address," the sun was starting to rise, "The home they lived in. We're going to go there and see what we can find," I climbed into the car. Eleanor followed suit.

"The police must have combed it from head to toe. What can we possibly find?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'm going to need to go to sleep again," I started driving back to his house.

When we got back, I took some melatonin and 5-HTP; he needed to fall asleep quickly. Eleanor threw in a B-complex and some aspirin to make the brain more active, albeit harder to calm down.

"With the B-complex, you'll want to stay awake, but the melatonin will metabolize and put you straight out," Eleanor said.

"How do you know all of this?" I asked her as a knocked back the pills.

"Instead of drinking coffee or energy drinks to stay awake I take vitamin B. It keeps the mind awake and more active. I have some noretropics if you really want to set your brain on fire."

"And you just keep all of this on your person?"

She paused and looked away then back at me, "Yeah, I guess that's weird."

"Just a little bit, Ellie," about a half an hour I was sleep.

I was running, and I ran out of the house. I ran to places I've never seen before. Everything was grey except for red lights on the streets. I was running faster than I ever had before, "Theo, what's going on?" Eleanor was trying to get into contact with me from the outside. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing happened, just a cold air. Why couldn't I talk this time? I could feel myself moving to on the outside, "Theodore you're moving! I'm—I'm going to follow you," I'm not sure, but I think I couldn't talk because I was trying to move. That's interesting to say the least, "Theodore, we're getting into my car and you're directing me where to go," I must be going to the house. Why wasn't my body just staying still? Why must I move to the house? Michelle must want me to go there; I need to figure everything else out. I got to the door. I wasn't aware if I was there or not. Eleanor wasn't telling me anything, probably focused on driving. Was I there yet? I walked through the door. I can't feel my body move. We must not be there yet. There was a man there. It wasn't Michelle or Robert, but someone else. He looked at me. He could see me; why could he see me?

"We're here, Theo," Eleanor said as she shook me awake. I jolted away, breathing heavily. She looked worried, "Teddy, are you alright?"

"Yeah," There's no way he could have seen me. There's simply no way. I still didn't understand though, possibly if he was spiritually attuned, but does that ever allow people to see dreamers? "Let's go inside, we need to be inside."

* * *

We walked up the stairs, and checked the door. It was unlocked. I started in and looked into the dark house. It was dusty with inactivity. I walked forward and was a mirror, Victorian aged. I blew the dust off of it. It was beautiful. Without turning around, I said to Eleanor, "I wonder what she wants from us. Why does she want us here?"

"She doesn't, and neither do I." A man's voice called form behind me. A man was holding Eleanor by the neck with his hand over her mouth. She was trying to scream, but was being muffled. I turned around to face him. My face lit up with rage; I opened up mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I took a step forward.

"No no no, not so quickly, my friend," he drew a gun and put it to her head, "you know what will happen if you do," my teeth clinched and Eleanor started to cry. I couldn't do anything. We are going to die right here.

"Who are you? How do you know about all this?" I yelled.

"Let's just say I'm a debt collector," he answered. I stepped, and he pulled the hammer of the gun, "Now what did I just say, Theodore?" I stepped back and he put it back down, "Good. Mister Swaim owed my boss quite a substantial amount of money, and I needed to get it for him, in cash, or in blood. Obviously, the lat Mr. and Mrs. Swaim couldn't pay, so I took."

"Do you just stay here or some shit? How could you have possibly known I was tracking you down?"

"I told him," I turned to the stairs and Angela was at the top of the stairs.

"Angela?" I asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Marquis has been very helpful this whole time."

"I'm sorry Theodore, he had my kids, and I knew he would be after me first if you ever found out…" she started to cry.

"It's not your fault," I said as a turned back around to face the man.

"Theodore, now the only reason you're alive is because you two are a national sensation," he put the gun down and reached behind him and threw some pictures onto the ground. I grabbed the pictures and examined them. They were our houses, our families, our lives, "I suggest you leave with your lives."

At that moment, Eleanor bit down unto his hand, and threw an elbow into his nose. She broke free of his grip as he fell to the ground. The gun hit the ground and went off. I ran forward and grabbed it. I put my foot on his face and yelled, "The tables have turned," pulled the hammer down and kept him pressed, but he wasn't fighting.

I leaned over, and he was dead. I couldn't believe it, he was dead. When Eleanor threw the elbow, his nose broke and punctured his brain, "Ellie, he's dead!" I turned around, and she was lying in a pool of blood. The gun shot hit her, but where? I was horrified to see her like that. I started to cry as I ran to her.

I looked at her lifeless eyes, "Ellie, Ellie? Ellie!"


	4. Part 4

The police came by and took the both of them away. Angela told her story and I told mine, Dave, Alvin, everybody came. Dave was coming back that afternoon, and made it back early. What a surprise, for him, to hear that we solved a murder and Eleanor got killed in the process. Brittney punched me in the face for getting her sister killed, but it simply wasn't the worse I could so to myself. They all cried as we went to the hospital. Me? I was numb at that point. I couldn't feel anything anymore. The next day was a complete blur as Mrs. Miller filled out the necessary papers. We were at the hospital. They were all asking me questions, but I couldn't hear anything. They just kept droning on.

"Theodore!" Brittney said through her tears. We were outside the morgue. I was sitting on the floor, Brittney was right next to me, Alvin was at her side, trying to pull her off, Jeanette was weeping softly in a corner with Simon. Mrs. Miller and Dave were talking to the Doctors, insurance agents, police, everyone. They would later tell me that her death lead to the arrests of everyone involved.

Robert had a gambling addiction, and it had gotten the better of him for a while. He went underground and dodged the authorities for years. When he was in deep with one of the underground organizations, they sent the man to kill him. Victor Rue, a French national, killed him. He had documents that led the authorities to his boss, and they shut down the entire ring. In death, she saved many more people.

In death, she sacrificed everything. She sacrificed herself, me and everyone else involved, but saved many more. She would have wanted it that way.

"Please Theodore, tell me what happened!" Why were you doing this! Why were you there!" Brittney was screaming and crying. Alvin was physically restraining her, "She's dead now, she's dead because of you!" That's when she let loose her fist on my face. I couldn't feel it.

"Brittney!" Alvin grabbed her and dragged her away, "You know this wasn't his fault! Please," he started to cry, "Please, leave him alone!" She started muttering something unintelligible and broke down again.

I stood up and left the room.

* * *

The next day, the police called me and I showed them to the body. The forest wasn't glowing blue, and the butterflies had disappeared. After digging for about then minutes, one of them hit something. They exhumed his skull. Robert, you did this. You killed her.

"Hey, boy," one of them called to me, "How did you know he was here?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," it was the first thing I had said since she died.

He laughed, and I shot him a dirty look. He got serious again, "When you've worked in this business for as long as I have, you've heard anything."

I took a deep breath, "Well, his spirit tormented me with headaches and hallucinations for a month or so until he finally physically manifested himself and attacked me. He told me where he was, where his sister was and charged me with the task of finding his wife. I went off in search of his wife, which would let him move on to another plane or some shit and then Eleanor got killed after his sister got threatened by the murder to tell him where I was. Robert Swaim is a greedy piece of shit who's gotten three people killed and has ruined roughly ten lives. You may see this as an accomplishment, being able to clear one more cold case, but, for me, I hope he rots in hell. He killed the love of my life, officer. I rather you leave the remains here, I want to piss on them," The officer gave me a strange look and I started to walk out of the forest.

* * *

"Theodore, are you ever going to tell us what happened?" Simon asked as we sat at the dinner table.

"Simon, please—" Dave said.

I interrupted him, "I'll field this question, Dave. Simon, have you ever had someone take something so precious to you that you wanted to die? I literally have no reason for existence right now. I want to sleep. I just want to sleep. When I stop wanting to go to sleep all day, I'm going to tell you why we did what we did."

Dave looked worried, "Theodore, I have you scheduled for an appointment with a psychologist tomorrow."

"Why would I need to go to a psychologist Dave? I already found out that I'm not crazy."

"You just described what people feel like when they are depressed, Theo," Alvin said.

"I'm going to bed now," I said as I got up.

"It's 7 p.m," Dave interjected.

"I know," I ran upstairs with Alvin and Simon following me. I wanted to fall asleep. I ran into my room and locked the door. They started to pound on the door, calling my name, but I paid them no attention. I went through my backpack which I hadn't touched since that day at school. I found the bag. The painkillers were in it, "Maybe they can really take away the pain," I took them all. I wonder what the LD50 is? Whatever. The more I take, the more I won't feel. I started to drift to sleep.

"Theodore," A woman was calling to me. Was it in my dreams? Was it reality? "Theodore!" I was jolted awake, but I wasn't in my bed. I was in class, at my desk.

"What? Where the fuck am I?"

"You're in class," a voice said behind me. There wasn't anyone there, just me, and whoever this was. I turned around, "Eleanor," I stood up and ran to her. I got to her and put my arms around her, only to fall straight through her.

"It doesn't work like that anymore, Teddy."

I started to cry, "I'm sorry."

"I know, but now's not the time for that," she said. She was always so strong, so serious.

"What do you mean?" I said through the tears.

"You need to go talk to Robert?"

"No! Fuck him! He got you killed, remember?" I said as a pounded my fist on the ground.

"You need to go talk to him, and you need to wake up."

"I don't want to," I said as I got close to her, "I can be with you here, I can just, I can just sleep all day."

"Theodore, you know how close you got to killing yourself today? You need to go talk to Robert, get some closure."

"I just want to be with you," I said.

"I know, but, for now, you need to wake up."

I woke up; lying in my bed with the bad the pills were in. I looked at the clock. It was 4 a.m., Monday morning. I needed to go talk to Robert, then I would go to sleep, and be with her forever.

* * *

I went to my car and drove to the forest. The blue light was gone, and so were the police. I went through the police tape and made my way back to where he used to lay. He couldn't be here. He's moved on, right?

I looked around myself, "Robert!" I yelled. How am I supposed to talk to him? "Robert!" There was no response. I went to his shallow grave and looked at the dirt. His bones were gone, and so was he.

"Theo, thank you," A blue butterfly dropped on my shoulder.

I slapped the butterfly and killed it, "Go fuck yourself Robert, you got Eleanor killed."

"I know," another one landed on my shoulder, "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Well that's cute. You got your wife killed, then the love of my life killed. You destroy lives wherever you go, don't you? Robert, when I go home, I'm going to go back to sleep, find wherever you are, and re-kill you…" I kept going on and on; I started to make less and less sense as my tirade continued. I didn't notice all of the butterflies had returned, "with a blow torch and a pair of pliers, Robert!"

"I know, and I feel really bad about all of this, Theodore, so I'm going to level with you. I'm going to make everything right, you just need to go back to sleep."

"What?"

"Lie down."

"I'm not going to listen to you, I'm not going to let you do anything else to me," as soon as I said that my knees buckled, "What are you doing?" The butterflies landed around my collapsed body.

"Just go to sleep."

* * *

I felt something cool on my face. It was, it was water. I opened my eyes. The sky over my head was overcast, and it dripped cold drops of water onto my face. I was soaked. I looked around me. I was back home, in my back yard. The grass was cool under my body. I felt myself. I felt whole, I think. Was I awake? I went inside. The house was dark, nobody was in it. I walked to the kitchen, Simon was sitting at the table, reading the paper.

He looked up at me, "Whoa, Theo, did you just outside?"

"Where's Alvin?" I asked, "Where's Dave?"

He laughed, "Dave's not going to be back for like a week, and you know that. As for Alvin, I think he's in the shower."

"What? Dave came home yesterday."

"Dave's getting home on Sunday. Are you feeling alright?"

"It's Monday, then, isn't it?"

He looked worried, "Yeah it is. Are you sure you're fine?"

I ran out the door. My feet were in an intense pain. I neglected to wear shoes. The rain started to obscure my vision. I ran down the street and Eleanor's house was facing me. I ran around the house and looked in the windows. Everyone seemed fine. They weren't crying. I couldn't see Eleanor, though. I ran to the front door and rang to door bell. Footsteps approached, and the door opened.

A very shocked Eleanor opened the door. She was, she was alive, "Theo! What are you doing here so early? We don't leave for another hour. And you're soaked, what's going on."

"I'm not sure, but I'm so happy you're here."

She laughed, "Why wouldn't I be? I live here after all."

I laughed nervously, "Yeah," she has no recollection of what happened. Nobody does. It was like I was thrust back in time by Robert," I have something to show you, actually. That's why I'm here, I have something to show you."

We drove back to Robert's grave. She was asking questions the entire ride there, "Theodore, where are we going? We're going to be late for school, and I have a test today."

"It's somewhere, you may know." I said. We approached the edge of the forest.

"This is so familiar, how did you know Mrs. Miller used to take us here when we were younger?"

"Just a hunch," we got out of the car. The rain had stopped. We went through the forest, getting to his grave.

"Theo, How do you know all of this?"

"Do you really not remember?"

"What are you talking about?" She really didn't know. What had I just experienced? Was it all a dream? Is this a dream? I, can't know. I don't know. I'm at a crossroads now. I can't really know if this is a dream or not. I either have to except that I'll never have a grasp on reality and pretend to be normal or continue to question everything. Which one is easier?

"Nothing," A blue butterfly flew between us and flew towards the canopy, "I guess it was something I dreamt."

* * *

**I would like to hear what you think ended up happening here, so review with theories. The much darker (probably) Idolatry will be coming out soon, and for those people who read my other stuff, i'm sorry but I haven't been working on Our Ill Will because i've been doing this whole thing. **


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